The “sweet chariot” represented the Underground Railroad, swinging low-to the South-to carry them to the North. The melody was a signal that the time to escape had arrived. Among Tubman’s favorites was reportedly “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.” As abolitionist Harriet Tubman guided Black people to freedom along the Underground Railroad, she sang certain spirituals to signal it was time for escape. Some were also used as a form of coded communication to plan escape from slavery. Throughout the antebellum South, spirituals became a vital form of folksong among enslaved people. The group was rehearsing for the upcoming Chicagoland Music Festival where they would sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" at Soldier Field. Wesley Jones, choral director, leads 600 Black singers through a rehearsal in Chicago, August 1935.
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